Why Is Everything Opening Up?

[JSixpack]

I just read a link from this forum,I think it was a weblink to a site called "pattaya at night " or similar.

Quite interesting,however the amount of go-go bars and new businesses, apartments, and condos that seem to be opening up has me pleasantly shocked as well as the drive-thru McDonald's Restaurant on Sukhumvit and new buffet at Bella Express etc. Tip's restaurant, after a good run, closed to make way for a newer business, too. And we just had a huge shopping mall, Central Festival, lots of new shops, go up and it's selling like crazy. Place is packed every weekend and doing well during the week, too.

Is it a combination of low rents/enough customers or good management?

One business mentioned,a irish bar called BOSCos was paying 70k a month so maybe its the rents, except nobody much liked BOSCos and it had such poor location for selling imported Irish/British lagers and expensive food. I mean, if you want that fat Brit "cuisine," just go to Pig & Whistle or Rosy O'Grady's right there on Soi 8! Then waddle out into the arms of a willing fem almost right across the street or next door! Who's BOSCo?

I think Pattaya actually has too many of these poorly managed, badly located irish themed bars,im actually surprised that big one in jomtiem is making a profit OR still trading actually. But, after all, hel_l, who cares? Pattaya is just SO much more than phony irish themed bars. Any idiot who invests in one probably deserves to lose his shirt unless he really knows what he's doing. Take Jameson's. Place has a crappy location, but Kim was born behind a bar (literally, he says) and was involved in Jools in BKK and managed Shenanigan's for a long time. So, of course he's making it.

Then again i read of a group called the peppermint group buying similar type businesses ,so they dont seem to concerned of the ecomomic downturn. And on 2nd Road / Soi 9, behind the Honey Inn and the Sawadee Hotels: The Funny Entertainment Complex will be built. And the beer bars between Soi 13 and Soi Yamato are being renovated. And on Pattaya Beach Road, at the entry to Soi 12, The LK Group is building another new Hotel. And then you got that incredible development around Soi Buakow. Lots of new restaurants, bars, and a fine go-go, too, the Oasis.

We got lots of Thais coming in from BKK and Russians. The thing about Russians is, they may not drink much in the beer bars, but they pay higher hotel room rates and shop upscale! So it more than evens out in the economy.

There's building all over Pattaya, and traffic is the worst it's ever been. Try to find a parking spot even for a motorbike!

Pattaya! What a success story amid the gloom and doom.

[Jingthing]

Why didn't you just post in the other existing thread?

[somtampet]

There are 3 gogo bars in soi buakaw area,and heard a whisper there could be another 2 shortly

[bow]

Yes, something positive. I love it.

[peterrabbit]

The reality is quite different.

Went out last Saturday night at 10oc to a beer bar complex (approx 10 bars) in Jomtien. Arrived at 10oc and left at 12oc, I was the only fallang customer in the whole time. Drove to Pattaya soi 8 via Thappraya road and 2nd road. After passing the Threpprast road junction I was the only vehicle on the road until I reached the junction with Pratumnack Rd were I came across an empty baht bus looking for customers. Stopped at the traffic light Junction of Pattaya road south which were on red. A couple of motorcycles joined me and we watched as a black dog calmly walked into the middle of the road and had a shit! Proceeded up 2nd road and most bars were empty with the others having a small number of customers. When I got to soi 8 most of the bars had no customers which ment I was constantly harrased by girls trying to pull me into their bar screaming "sexy man come here". Went to a friend's bar but he had gone to bed as he had had no customers. The girls complained about having no customers, no lady drinks, no short times, no money etc. Left an hour later coming back via 3rd rd. There are a couple of very popular Thai bars I pass which are normally heaving at that time with standing room only. When I passed them they only had a few customers.

If things carry on the way they are at the moment then it will be "last out of Pattaya switch off the lights"

[JSixpack]

If things carry on the way they are at the moment then it will be "last out of Pattaya switch off the lights"

Low season, duh! We got 5 months or so to go before the high season starts. Meanwhile, enjoy the reduced traffic (sometimes), more attention from the girls, and black dogs calmly walking into the middle of the road and having a shit.

[JSixpack]

Why didn't you just post in the other existing thread?

Different topic. Opening vs. Closing. Get it?

[andyww]

The fact is that many posters on here gauge the Thai economy by how many customers the beer bars and gogos have.

These people really need to get out more. Try Central Festival early evening where many of the restaurants have queues outside. Try Jomtien at weekends where its packed full of Thais.

Pattaya is booming. Its just that the P4P trade is not.

Having said that, some beer bars are doing well, but only those which go the extra mile to attract customers such as decent live bands etc. The days of the shack beer bars with a few bored looking girls of dubious appeal are in decline.

[NALAK]

tuk com, mike mall, friendship, tesco certainly are not booming, central is busy but when i walk around poeple are just window shopping. bars are not doing well and in my opinion do not deserve to do well. i go out a lot but most bars dont have a clue how to make people feel welcome, or give a reasonable service level. the farang places are the worst where the boss sits in a corner all night drinking. i had 2 mates come to Pattaya last weekend after spending 2 months working in the dessert. we went all around, the only place, that stood out as making us want to spend our money was whats up a go go, we stayed in there for 6 hours and spent about 8000 baht, the manager came and said hello and bought us a couple of drinks. compare this with other busness where they cannot even say hello. non business men from europe who have not got a clue how to deal with a hard time. the traffic is as light as i have seen it, even lighter when you got sat nav to get you around little back streets. the business here have to face up to the fact that their customers income is down 30%, do what they are doing in the states and uk, sell cheap cheap until the recession is over.

[JSixpack]

tuk com, mike mall, friendship, tesco certainly are not booming, central is busy but when i walk around poeple are just window shopping. bars are not doing well and in my opinion do not deserve to do well. i go out a lot but most bars dont have a clue how to make people feel welcome, or give a reasonable service level. the farang places are the worst where the boss sits in a corner all night drinking. i had 2 mates come to Pattaya last weekend after spending 2 months working in the dessert. we went all around, the only place, that stood out as making us want to spend our money was whats up a go go, we stayed in there for 6 hours and spent about 8000 baht, the manager came and said hello and bought us a couple of drinks. compare this with other busness where they cannot even say hello. non business men from europe who have not got a clue how to deal with a hard time. the traffic is as light as i have seen it, even lighter when you got sat nav to get you around little back streets. the business here have to face up to the fact that their customers income is down 30%, do what they are doing in the states and uk, sell cheap cheap until the recession is over.

I've visited TukCom, Friendship, Tesco, Big C, and Carrefour recently and all were doing well. I still had to stand in line at checkout at all those big stores. At Central lots of people do window shop (typical at this kind of mall everywhere), but others buy. At Banana IT, cash in hand, I couldn't get sales assistance, they were so busy. Power Buy--plenty of customers too. And as for the restaurants at Central, I tried to get into Fuji the other weekend: they had to put me on the waiting list! I left, went to the Food Court, and--it was mobbed, almost no place to sit. (Had to park on the street, too, no room for one more motorbike in the parking lot.) How could you not see that kind of evidence? Gimme a break!

But your other observations are spot on. Tropical Bert's--good example of how to do things right. He read the thread about yellow chicken curry, learned what people want, and now he's offering exactly that (according to one satisfied customer). And now I'm gonna visit and get some o' that pretty soon. Sweethearts Go-Go--heard good things about the rock music (true), went, found a really nice vibe, super friendly owner, and now I'm gonna go back next time I'm in Walking Street.

[NALAK]

tuk com, mike mall, friendship, tesco certainly are not booming, central is busy but when i walk around poeple are just window shopping. bars are not doing well and in my opinion do not deserve to do well. i go out a lot but most bars dont have a clue how to make people feel welcome, or give a reasonable service level. the farang places are the worst where the boss sits in a corner all night drinking. i had 2 mates come to Pattaya last weekend after spending 2 months working in the dessert. we went all around, the only place, that stood out as making us want to spend our money was whats up a go go, we stayed in there for 6 hours and spent about 8000 baht, the manager came and said hello and bought us a couple of drinks. compare this with other busness where they cannot even say hello. non business men from europe who have not got a clue how to deal with a hard time. the traffic is as light as i have seen it, even lighter when you got sat nav to get you around little back streets. the business here have to face up to the fact that their customers income is down 30%, do what they are doing in the states and uk, sell cheap cheap until the recession is over.

I've visited TukCom, Friendship, Tesco, Big C, and Carrefour recently and all were doing well. I still had to stand in line at checkout at all those big stores. At Central lots of people do window shop (typical at this kind of mall everywhere), but others buy. At Banana IT, cash in hand, I couldn't get sales assistance, they were so busy. Power Buy--plenty of customers too. And as for the restaurants at Central, I tried to get into Fuji the other weekend: they had to put me on the waiting list! I left, went to the Food Court, and--it was mobbed, almost no place to sit. (Had to park on the street, too, no room for one more motorbike in the parking lot.) How could you not see that kind of evidence? Gimme a break!

But your other observations are spot on. Tropical Bert's--good example of how to do things right. He read the thread about yellow chicken curry, learned what people want, and now he's offering exactly that (according to one satisfied customer). And now I'm gonna visit and get some o' that pretty soon. Sweethearts Go-Go--heard good things about the rock music (true), went, found a really nice vibe, super friendly owner, and now I'm gonna go back next time I'm in Walking Street.

friendship sponser my friends dog sanctuary, they have had to halve their donation due to lack of business, i know the store director for this region for tesco as she also helps with donations, she told me last week they are well below target. just an example from the horses mouth so to speak. tropical berts is a good example nice friendly bloke who chats to his customers. ques at check out due to only about 6 out of 40 check outs being open, tesco told me was because they cannot recruit check out staff, at 6k per month i told her i am not suprised. agree with you about sweethearts as well nice friendly Manager (not owner) who always comes and says hello, only reason i go in.

i park the vigo behind berts, or in soi 3 or in soi 15 2nd road a few yards from walking street, or in the street near opey hotel, or in baokow market, or in front of mcdonalds second road. try the bike in any of them any night. got my new external hard drive from banana tuk com last week, only customer in there. even got 300 baht discount.

most hotels for 40 baht as car park empty,

[CHdiver]

Pattaya is more quiet then usual, period. Yes, Pattaya is not just the Girly Bars, but all the Guys frequenting them (or not at the moment) have to stay somewhere. They bring money who is missing now, that means that Thais catering to them, in what ever way, dont spend as much. We had some Thai Holidays and the Curfew who did bring Thais to Pattaya, but this weekend was more quiet with Thais in Jomtien then many before. Beach Road in Pattaya was busy with the Fare they had, but lets see how it looks without it the next weekend.

The Euro goes down, the Pound is down, so People will spend less Baht then before, or they stay away and go where they get more for the money. Pattaya will get back on the feet, but there will be many more Businesses who may have to close. Don't forget that we did not have a good year before that, so many Businesses did suffer before and don't have the reserve they may need to survive.

But good to see that some People are still optimistic, its a little bit like going into a Battle, nobody whats to be the one ending being hit by a bullet. Nothing wrong with that, because many survive.

[freethefour]

This is great. Yesterday I was reading a topic about places closing down left

right and centre in Pattaya and now reading one about everything opening up.

<deleted>

[FarangBuddha]

The fact is that many posters on here gauge the Thai economy by how many customers the beer bars and gogos have.

These people really need to get out more.

Agreed. It's amazing how many farangs think that the Thai economy = the nitelife entertainment industry...IT DOES NOT!

Manufacturing and agriculture make a far larger percentage of the economy than tourism...sure, tourism is a large factor in the beach resort areas of Pattaya, Phuket, and Samui but even these places see lots of BAHT spending domestic tourists and the Russian, Indian, and Chinese tourists every year. And would it be a bad thing if half the "nitelife" establishments closed down and the space used for other activities...I would think not.

[monty]

These people really need to get out more. Try Central Festival early evening where many of the restaurants have queues outside. Try Jomtien at weekends where its packed full of Thais.

Pattaya is booming. Its just that the P4P trade is not.

Been on Jomtien Beach last Saturday around lunch time, and apart from the first 200 meters past the Dong Tarn police station there was plenty of parking space.

Just 1 year ago, that time of the day you'd had to go all the way past Wat Boon road before you started to have a chance for parking!

So nope, there were hardly any Thais around!

Very hard to quantify of course, but I reckon down at least 40 to 60% ytd.

[Zstarx]

tuk com, mike mall, friendship, tesco certainly are not booming, central is busy but when i walk around poeple are just window shopping. bars are not doing well and in my opinion do not deserve to do well. i go out a lot but most bars dont have a clue how to make people feel welcome, or give a reasonable service level. the farang places are the worst where the boss sits in a corner all night drinking. i had 2 mates come to Pattaya last weekend after spending 2 months working in the dessert. we went all around, the only place, that stood out as making us want to spend our money was whats up a go go, we stayed in there for 6 hours and spent about 8000 baht, the manager came and said hello and bought us a couple of drinks. compare this with other busness where they cannot even say hello. non business men from europe who have not got a clue how to deal with a hard time. the traffic is as light as i have seen it, even lighter when you got sat nav to get you around little back streets. the business here have to face up to the fact that their customers income is down 30%, do what they are doing in the states and uk, sell cheap cheap until the recession is over.

I've visited TukCom, Friendship, Tesco, Big C, and Carrefour recently and all were doing well. I still had to stand in line at checkout at all those big stores. At Central lots of people do window shop (typical at this kind of mall everywhere), but others buy. At Banana IT, cash in hand, I couldn't get sales assistance, they were so busy. Power Buy--plenty of customers too. And as for the restaurants at Central, I tried to get into Fuji the other weekend: they had to put me on the waiting list! I left, went to the Food Court, and--it was mobbed, almost no place to sit. (Had to park on the street, too, no room for one more motorbike in the parking lot.) How could you not see that kind of evidence? Gimme a break!

But your other observations are spot on. Tropical Bert's--good example of how to do things right. He read the thread about yellow chicken curry, learned what people want, and now he's offering exactly that (according to one satisfied customer). And now I'm gonna visit and get some o' that pretty soon. Sweethearts Go-Go--heard good things about the rock music (true), went, found a really nice vibe, super friendly owner, and now I'm gonna go back next time I'm in Walking Street.

Are you a real estate agent talking it up?

[moo9]

we went all around, the only place, that stood out as making us want to spend our money was whats up a go go, we stayed in there for 6 hours and spent about 8000 baht, the manager came and said hello and bought us a couple of drinks.

Considering that Whats up is an expensive place you did not spend much during 6 hrs...

There are many places where you can get better atmosphere without the constant begging for LD's.

[moo9]

tuk com, mike mall, friendship, tesco certainly are not booming, central is busy but when i walk around poeple are just window shopping. bars are not doing well and in my opinion do not deserve to do well. i go out a lot but most bars dont have a clue how to make people feel welcome, or give a reasonable service level. the farang places are the worst where the boss sits in a corner all night drinking. i had 2 mates come to Pattaya last weekend after spending 2 months working in the dessert. we went all around, the only place, that stood out as making us want to spend our money was whats up a go go, we stayed in there for 6 hours and spent about 8000 baht, the manager came and said hello and bought us a couple of drinks. compare this with other busness where they cannot even say hello. non business men from europe who have not got a clue how to deal with a hard time. the traffic is as light as i have seen it, even lighter when you got sat nav to get you around little back streets. the business here have to face up to the fact that their customers income is down 30%, do what they are doing in the states and uk, sell cheap cheap until the recession is over.

I've visited TukCom, Friendship, Tesco, Big C, and Carrefour recently and all were doing well. I still had to stand in line at checkout at all those big stores. At Central lots of people do window shop (typical at this kind of mall everywhere), but others buy. At Banana IT, cash in hand, I couldn't get sales assistance, they were so busy. Power Buy--plenty of customers too. And as for the restaurants at Central, I tried to get into Fuji the other weekend: they had to put me on the waiting list! I left, went to the Food Court, and--it was mobbed, almost no place to sit. (Had to park on the street, too, no room for one more motorbike in the parking lot.) How could you not see that kind of evidence? Gimme a break!

But your other observations are spot on. Tropical Bert's--good example of how to do things right. He read the thread about yellow chicken curry, learned what people want, and now he's offering exactly that (according to one satisfied customer). And now I'm gonna visit and get some o' that pretty soon. Sweethearts Go-Go--heard good things about the rock music (true), went, found a really nice vibe, super friendly owner, and now I'm gonna go back next time I'm in Walking Street.

Are you a real estate agent talking it up?

Retarded memory may be....

The reality is, that this low season is and will continue to be the lowest I have ever seen.

Except for some Thai visitors during the weekends there is not much going on. You see just "old" faces in the bars, which means just expats, just handful of western tourists.

[CGW]

Retarded memory may be....

The reality is, that this low season is and will continue to be the lowest I have ever seen.

Except for some Thai visitors during the weekends there is not much going on. You see just "old" faces in the bars, which means just expats, just handful of western tourists.

I dont know how long you have been in Pattaya, but compared to 97 it is booming! The 3 or 4 years when the west was booming and people had the money to travel are over, the city seems to be doing fine without high season tourism? So what a lot of crappy bars dont have customers...........

[NALAK]

we went all around, the only place, that stood out as making us want to spend our money was whats up a go go, we stayed in there for 6 hours and spent about 8000 baht, the manager came and said hello and bought us a couple of drinks.

Considering that Whats up is an expensive place you did not spend much during 6 hrs...

There are many places where you can get better atmosphere without the constant begging for LD's.

equals 21 beers each but we did start at 1pm in the amari, plus the 3-4 drinks on the house. LDs are for the tourist and not compulsary.

[Penkoprod]

I think its not so much the low season thats the problem, but the high season being much shorter and much shallower than when i 1st started visiting Thialand some 25-30 years ago thats scaring business owners.

I've seen Walking Street deserted at 11 PM in July and August in the 90's, i've seen Second Road devoid of traffic in May and June the same sort of timespan. And you know what? The business owners weren't that bothered, because they knew they would make any lost revenue up (and more besides) come the high season. Bet they aint so sure right now. And i DON'T just mean the bars and nightime entertainment places either. A lot of the hotels and smaller guesthouses for example have been struggling for the last few years......and with it the Thai staff employed in them.

Penkoprod

[CGW]

^From 97 to 2007 Tourism to Thailand doubled, walking street only came about in the very late 90's, you talk as if Pattaya has always had huge amounts of tourism, lot of short term memories out there!

[chops]

I see many tourists around WS and many cars around Sukhumvit and Pattaya Klang etc, but most of these are either Indians/Arabs/Russians in the case of WS or just Thais driving around for some reason.

In both cases, these aren't the kinds of tourists that visit the bars and blow 5-10k a night. Maybe some naive business people think that is a sign that Pattaya is still doing well..

[basjke]

^From 97 to 2007 Tourism to Thailand doubled, walking street only came about in the very late 90's, you talk as if Pattaya has always had huge amounts of tourism, lot of short term memories out there!

I came here in 1994 and walking street existed already.

[monty]

^From 97 to 2007 Tourism to Thailand doubled, walking street only came about in the very late 90's, you talk as if Pattaya has always had huge amounts of tourism, lot of short term memories out there!

Been here since roughly the same time, and yes, walking street was alive and kickin!

Wasn't called that way yet as traffic was still allowed!

And what I remember of those days is that the place was absolutely heaving.

For example, under the Marine disco it was packed every day with the boxing and snake show, and it weren't Asian tour groups, but well spending Westerners!

[craigt3365]

Took a drive down Beach Road yesterday around 3PM. I could count the number of farangs with my fingers. Crazy slow. The Thai's I saw all seemed to be the vendors. Only saw a few Thai tourists.

After the party at Bert's, took a walk down Soi 6. For that time of night, it seemed really slow to me. A few farang, but not many. Which meant we got lots of attention!

[basjke]

Took a drive down Beach Road yesterday around 3PM. I could count the number of farangs with my fingers. Crazy slow. The Thai's I saw all seemed to be the vendors. Only saw a few Thai tourists.

After the party at Bert's, took a walk down Soi 6. For that time of night, it seemed really slow to me. A few farang, but not many. Which meant we got lots of attention!

And if that doesn't says it all.

[JSixpack]

I see many tourists around WS and many cars around Sukhumvit and Pattaya Klang etc, but most of these are either Indians/Arabs/Russians in the case of WS or just Thais driving around for some reason.

In both cases, these aren't the kinds of tourists that visit the bars and blow 5-10k a night. Maybe some naive business people think that is a sign that Pattaya is still doing well..

Low seasons are pretty much always like that. And a large new area of restaurants & bars opened up in and around Soi Buakow, which siphoned off some of the mongers that otherwise would be on Beach Rd., Sois 6-7-8, Walking St., and 2nd Rd. I'd also note that business owners in PTY regularly poor mouth.

Besides, it's like andyww and FarangBuddha said earlier:

The fact is that many posters on here gauge the Thai economy by how many customers the beer bars and gogos have.

These people really need to get out more.

Agreed. It's amazing how many farangs think that the Thai economy = the nitelife entertainment industry...IT DOES NOT!

Manufacturing and agriculture make a far larger percentage of the economy than tourism...sure, tourism is a large factor in the beach resort areas of Pattaya, Phuket, and Samui but even these places see lots of BAHT spending domestic tourists and the Russian, Indian, and Chinese tourists every year. And would it be a bad thing if half the "nitelife" establishments closed down and the space used for other activities...I would think not.

(FarangBuddha makes a little more sense when he's off the topic of Songkran, but he did throw in that nonsense about "closing down" half the nightlife establishments. But he just drives by them in his SUV with the windows rolled up; in contrast, many of us do enjoy the "boites," as Trink used to call them.)

My point is that more businesses have opened and are opening up than are closing down, the latter argument put forth in yet another gloom-and-doom thread in which everyone nodded their heads and clucked sadly and wisely.

PTY is going to continue to grow one way or the other: there's no doubt about that. It's amusing that people refuse to believe it.

[CGW]

^From 97 to 2007 Tourism to Thailand doubled, walking street only came about in the very late 90's, you talk as if Pattaya has always had huge amounts of tourism, lot of short term memories out there!

I came here in 1994 and walking street existed already.

Time flies, thought walking street opened later, off course the Road has always been there but only became known as walking street in 1996, i off course thought it was a lousy idea and would never catch on, as did some business owners down there!

(August 2006) The Walking Street Committee opened the new Walking Street archways to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the pedestrianization of the thoroughfare, and the closure of the street to traffic was officially extended by one hour at the same time, vehicles being prohibited now between the hours of 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.

[NALAK]

I see many tourists around WS and many cars around Sukhumvit and Pattaya Klang etc, but most of these are either Indians/Arabs/Russians in the case of WS or just Thais driving around for some reason.

In both cases, these aren't the kinds of tourists that visit the bars and blow 5-10k a night. Maybe some naive business people think that is a sign that Pattaya is still doing well..

Low seasons are pretty much always like that. And a large new area of restaurants & bars opened up in and around Soi Buakow, which siphoned off some of the mongers that otherwise would be on Beach Rd., Sois 6-7-8, Walking St., and 2nd Rd. I'd also note that business owners in PTY regularly poor mouth.

Besides, it's like andyww and FarangBuddha said earlier:

The fact is that many posters on here gauge the Thai economy by how many customers the beer bars and gogos have.

These people really need to get out more.

Agreed. It's amazing how many farangs think that the Thai economy = the nitelife entertainment industry...IT DOES NOT!

Manufacturing and agriculture make a far larger percentage of the economy than tourism...sure, tourism is a large factor in the beach resort areas of Pattaya, Phuket, and Samui but even these places see lots of BAHT spending domestic tourists and the Russian, Indian, and Chinese tourists every year. And would it be a bad thing if half the "nitelife" establishments closed down and the space used for other activities...I would think not.

(FarangBuddha makes a little more sense when he's off the topic of Songkran, but he did throw in that nonsense about "closing down" half the nightlife establishments. But he just drives by them in his SUV with the windows rolled up; in contrast, many of us do enjoy the "boites," as Trink used to call them.)

My point is that more businesses have opened and are opening up than are closing down, the latter argument put forth in yet another gloom-and-doom thread in which everyone nodded their heads and clucked sadly and wisely.

PTY is going to continue to grow one way or the other: there's no doubt about that. It's amusing that people refuse to believe it.

you seem to be in a majority of one, i have been here 9 years and its the quitest ever, there will always be a numb nuts who wants to buy a bar in thailand and loose the lot. my mates who came down got the Amari for 2300 baht per night, down from 6000. must be a reason for that, pattaya needs the Euro, pound and Dollar, at present exchange rates it is not going to get it. roubles and rupees wont do it. if all high end hotels are full of russians and indians why holiday inn and amari down to these prices. anyway hope your right the more places to go the better. anyway check out those parking spots, if my big vigo gets in ya little bike should have no problem.

p.s Pattaya getting another hammering in the press because the guy who killed 12 people in the UK last week lost all his money to a Thai hooker, and flipped out over it. also the guy who locked all his kids in a cellar for years and fathered them children was also a regular visitor. i dont agree with blaming pattaya for this but its making the front pages back in Europe.